Apartment building in Pittsburgh's Allentown neighborhood evacuated following fire

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Residents of an apartment complex in Pittsburgh's Allentown neighborhood had to be evacuated because of a fire on Thursday morning.

Flames broke out shortly before 11:30 a.m. inside the Caliguri Plaza senior high-rise on Arlington Avenue.

With fire alarms blaring, Pittsburgh firefighters entered the building. Residents, many of them seniors, were trying to find a way out.

"I got kind of confused because I'm new. I didn't know where the exit was at first, you know what I mean?" said Pamela Stanley, who had just moved in at the beginning of August. "I just kept going the opposite direction of the smoke. But when I came out, I saw glass as they busted out the windows and people were still coming out."

Lynn Fritz says she tried to save her cat but had to leave the apartment. There's been no word on what happened to the animal.

Meanwhile, firefighters were trying to save the life of the man who lived in the unit where the fire erupted. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition to be treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries.

Pittsburgh firefighters said about 10 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The Red Cross is helping those without shelter.

"My heart is still pounding," Stanley said. "I'm shaking like a leaf. I've never witnessed anything like this before."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.